


A New Era

by Nightwood



Category: Nightwood
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-30
Updated: 2014-08-30
Packaged: 2018-02-15 10:40:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2226006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nightwood/pseuds/Nightwood
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This fic is based off of William and Daniel's original universe, the roleplay known as <a href="http://www.chickensmoothie.com/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=1826187#p56578469">Freak of Nature</a>. It takes place years after William's freak show was disbanded. Since he is immortal and his lover was turned into a vampire, they have lasted many many years together and watched their "modern day" turn into "history".</p><p>Here is where they are now...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Visitor

The ticking of the clock on the wall kept time with William's movements as he stirred the spoon in the pot. The soft noise of the glowing timepiece on the wall was just for show, of course. The sound fed through the miniscule speakers imbedded throughout the wall. It added to the ambiance of the kitchen as the artificial hands made their slow progression around the face of the 2-dimensional clock that existed on the touchscreen wall above the stove. William tapped the area beside the clock to pull up the temperature monitor on his pot before moving the container off of the stove and onto the heat-proof, sheet white counter.  
  
William felt a presence and he grew still, a soft smile curving his thin lips upward. It had taken a lot of practice, but Daniel's vampire stealth no longer caught him off-guard as it used to. He could feel Daniel's approach in the faint cool breeze that followed his cold form around, as well as the scent of pine that William had always noticed on Daniel since Day 1 of their relationship.  
  
William tilted his head to the side in anticipation for Daniel's usual initial peck on the neck. It was funny to see the quirks that arose from Daniel's vampirism. They were always very minute things that sometimes passed even Daniel's notice: an affinity for neck kisses... a mild partiality for dark hues of the color red... a preference for night strolls over daytime activities. William had grown to love every new habit as it arose. As Daniel's chilled lips pressed to the skin of William's neck, William continued to work despite the tender touch of Daniel's sinuous arms gently curling around his torso.  
  
"Good morning, Daniel."  
  
"Good morning. How did you sleep?"  
  
"I slept well," the burgundy-haired man replied as his pianist-like fingers glided over his work. "What did you do while I was asleep?"  
  
"Nothing." Daniel nuzzled the warm skin at the crook of William's neck with a smile. "I stayed in bed with you."  
  
William arched a brow, turning his head slightly to flick his green eyes up at his husband's pallid face. "Sounds boring."  
  
"It is anything but," the ebony-haired vampire responded as he lifted his face and moved his bi-colored gaze towards the exposed patch of skin. The area over William's jugular vein was scarred, marked by several incisions that Daniel had made with his teeth over the centuries when his nourishment options had run low. It used to bother Daniel to see those marks- those reminders of what kind of monster he truly was- but William had never seemed to mind. In fact, vampire bites had turned out to be rather intoxicating; something about the coating on Daniel's fangs made his victims surprisingly cooperative once he bit down.  
  
Speaking of vampires... "Vicente is here."  
  
William nodded in response to Daniel's words. "I know. I made two today, see?" William's thin, strong fingers gestured towards his work which lay on the counter on two separate tea plates. One chocolate croissant sat on each plate, their visual aesthetic speaking volumes about how many years William had had to perfect his culinary skill. Both croissants were small in size and rich in flavor in accordance with the fact that vampire stomachs were no longer meant to deal with copious amounts of substantial food. The pastries were a treat- merely a human gesture of William's to convey hospitality.  
  
Upon seeing the extra dish, Daniel's eyebrows raised in mild surprise. "How did you know? I can smell him, but you...?"  
  
William chortled softly, lifting a long-fingered hand and gesturing in the air to activate something else on the wall. A new square popped up on the surface to display a video feed. It seemed the house's security system was quietly focused on the other vampire's approach.  
  
"Oh." Daniel chuckled as well, growing quiet when a chocolate-tipped finger lifted and touched to his lips. Daniel swept up the thin layer of rich goo with his tongue and quietly smacked his lips, offering up a murmur of approval at the taste. "Shall we greet our guest?"  
  
"Lead the way, my love."


	2. Catching Up

Vicente was not surprised when the front door to the large, cabin-like house opened before he reached the front stoop. A combination of William's old-fashioned hospitality and Daniel's supernaturally heightened senses made it so that a surprise visit to their secluded abode in the Rockies seemed completely planned. He might as well have called the day before for all the preparation those two had accomplished. "Good morning," he called, raising his voice just enough for William's ears to pick up. William called back in the same semi-loud tone while Daniel cheerfully murmured his own greeting, perfectly aware of the extent of Vicente's acute hearing abilities. The visitor was led to the dining room and offered a plate of some tasty-looking desert food, which he politely accepted and consumed in small bites.  
  
It was rather interesting to Vicente to see how these two had progressed after so much time together. William's eyes had changed color, softening from their usual hostile burgundy red to a glistening green. Vicente remembered when the two personalities had finally been rejoined. The resulting man had been tumultuous in nature and deeply disquieted by the unfamiliar binding of his two polar sides. For a long time it had not been clear if the two halves would obediently mix or forcefully stay apart. It seemed that Daniel had been the leading soothing force in Ringmaster. He had brought out the true William; not the weeping husk of a man whose chest had so oft been stitched, but the strong, bold-hearted man that had existed before the death of his wife and child had broken him apart. The green irises appeared to be just one small side-effect of the change.  
  
As for Daniel, William's effect on him had been roughly the same. For such a young vampire, Daniel was surprisingly docile. Ringmaster had been able to match the vampire's initial ferocity, acting as the vent for Daniel's wild instincts. Later, the new William that now sat before Vicente had helped to reign in the ferocity and give Daniel back his old self.  
  
Vicente continued to quietly observe as the three conversed. The subject matter turned towards "the old days" and William's tone grew curious. He set his fork down onto his plate, ignoring his potato skillet breakfast now that new questions were beginning to form in his mind. "What ever happened to Lucien Lachance?"   
  
Daniel didn't even bat an eye when he heard the name. That era was long gone and the pain associated with the name of the assassin had faded away as time progressed. This is why he and William had been able to become so close with the man's vampire companion. They no longer associated him with the man that had been their tormentor.  
  
Vicente leaned back, his own expression taking on a hint of sobriety at the mention of his old, er, _friend_. "Killed in combat."  
  
The cliché "live by the sword" adage came to Daniel's mind. "How? Was it another assassin?"  
  
Vicente gave a nod. "Tessa."  
  
A brief silence pervaded the room followed by William's cutting guffaw as a hint of Ringmaster's remains poked through his personality. "Beautiful irony," he exclaimed with an air of mirth, his head thrown back and a grin on his face. He had not expected Lucien’s own love interest to be the one to kill him. What he did not see, Daniel's sharp eyes picked up. He watched Vicente's pale hand pass over his chest, brushing over an indent in the cloth of his dark blue t-shirt. Daniel's eyes slid over the worn chain that curved up from under his shirt and over the back of Vicente's neck, a feeling of recognition coming over his mind. He'd seen a necklace of that small cylindrical shape on that sort of ball chain once before. When Tessa visited Sideshow with Lucien, she'd shown Daniel her diode necklace. Apparently, it was supposed to keep harmful EMF waves away from her while she worked on the computer. No doubt such a diode would be obsolete in today's technology sphere. But for sentimental purposes...  
  
William spoke once more. "And Tessa? What happened to her?"  
  
"Old age."  
  
"Good for her. She did always seem too stubborn to pass any other way."  
  
"Indeed she was..."  
  
A silence followed in which William returned to his neglected breakfast and Vicente's eyes slid to the dining room window as his mind drifted wistfully into the past. Daniel seemed to be the only one who felt uncomfortable under the lapsing quiet, especially since he'd been the only one to notice the buttons William had accidentally pressed with his questions. A smile came over his face as Vicente's crimson eyes turned back to them and he introduced a new topic.  
  
"How is Jem?"  
  
"He passed a couple years ago," William voiced very matter-of-factly.  
  
Disappointment showed clearly on Vicente's face. "Oh. I am very sorry to hear that." It was always nice to have another old acquaintance in the ranks of the undying, and saddening when those ranks were depleted. "Did his tribe bury him?"  
  
Daniel shook his head, his ebony hair swaying around his face from the movement. "Cremation," he corrected.  
  
Vicente brought his hand to his forehead with a soft smile. "Ah, I should have known! It makes sense in a tribe of dragons."  
  
William perked up in reaction to Vicente's smile, his emotions riding along the emotions of his guest in a vicarious manner. "Indeed. Maelstrom spread his ashes near Jem's home town." William silently wondered how many years the hobbling old dragon had left. Surely he would soon die as well. "May I take your plate?"  
  
The off-topic question jarred Vicente's flow of thought for a moment, but he couldn't help but smile at William's persistence towards good manners as a host. The vampire nodded his consent and watched William sweep away into the kitchen. The sound of running water drifted towards them as Daniel picked up where the conversation had left off.  
  
"The tribe has taken up more nomadic habits since the War," Daniel voiced. Both faces grew grim now, for there was not a creature on earth who had not been touched by the War in one way or another. William's wagons, which now sat in the backyard amongst the foliage, had taken great damage during that decade. Vicente's main mode of living and functioning had been destroyed, for the Brotherhood had fallen only a year before the war's end.  
  
Vicente leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. William emerged from the kitchen just as Vicente's gentle voice posed a question. "How did you fare during that time? Did you fight during the War?"  
  
"Not for an army, no," William replied as he took his place in the chair next to Daniel. Daniel leaned back and stretched out an arm, draping it over the back of William's chair as William began to relay the story of their war years to their guest. He told Vicente about how they'd been in France when the main conflict started, and how the skirmishes along the border trapped them within the country. Eventually when the French government fell, they went into hiding with some other refugees. During the fight following their discovery, Roslynn died. William's voice grew deeply sorrowful then and faded off. Losing the Link and losing his close friend had been one of the most painful things William had ever experienced. He'd had trouble functioning afterwards, like an amputee getting use to a missing arm. William's sad green eyes turned downwards to rest on the hands in his lap. He gestured to Daniel, indicating that he wanted his husband to tell the rest of the story.  
  
"She saved William's life," Daniel continued as he moved his arm from the chair to his husband. His fingers intertwined with William's in the burgundy-haired man's lap, squeezing gentle reassurances into that warm palm as he spoke. "The vibratim charge would have killed him, but it merely left a mark." William turned his head to the side to display the vein-like scar that traced up one side of his neck and over part of his jaw. The nerves on that side of his neck didn't work as well anymore, which had proven useful when Daniel grew hungry soon afterward.   
  
About a half hour later when the conversation began to slow, Daniel invited Vicente to stay for a day or so. They did not get visitors often in this rural area, so Daniel wished to stretch out Vicente's visit as long as comfortably possible. Vicente, who found himself craving companionship more and more these days, quickly accepted. While William slept that night, the two vampires walked around the property, silently enjoying one another's familiar company. This is how the next day progressed as well, for constant small talk and conversation grows obsolete when you have lived as long as these beings have. Sometimes a conversation arose and other times the three were content to simply exist in the same room together, sharing space and awareness of all the years they had experienced together.  
  



	3. The Inevitable

_Two days later..._  
  
Daniel and Vicente entered the house to find the touch screen walls full of illustration, shining with various artistic depictions of William's life. As he began to walk to the first painting-like piece, Vicente excused himself to the kitchen in search for another one of William's delicious dessert confections. Daniel nodded and then turned to the artwork, tapping the wall and saving the piece in William's art file before looking it over.  
  
The picture depicted a horse and buggy. Both would look unfamiliar to the modern day mortal, for this breed and this decorative design on the buggy were from a time that was once known as the "Victorian Era". The next painting was an ironically cheerful landscape portrait of a graveyard in the morning. Daniel could just make out Madelynn's name on one of the tombstones. He saved this one for William as well. Daniel followed the paintings down the hallway, saving and closing each one as he passed. He was familiar with what all this entailed. William was likely to be in a quiet mood when Daniel finally found him. Oftentimes he'd only seem half there when such a mood struck him. This seemed to be happening more and more since a few years back, but Daniel was not sure why. He paused in front of a painting of a familiar bed. It was the bed on which the two had shared their first years together in Sideshow. On top of the bed lay Daniel, who seemed to have fallen asleep with his guitar in his lap. His face looked completely innocent and his body completely relaxed.  
  
 _Asleep..._ Sleep was a stranger to Daniel now. He saved the mural and moved on.  
  
The drawings lead Daniel to the master bedroom. Thoughtful murals dissolved into shadowy sketches in here; sketches of the Eiffel tower and a winged girl with furry ears and of unfamiliar rooms that Daniel did not recognize. He saved the whole thing and closed it, his bi-colored eyes coming to rest on the man in the rocking chair in the corner of the room.  
  
William's head was tilted back, eyes closed. The thin angular features of his visage were relaxed, as though he were taking a nap. As Daniel walked closer, the sound of William's heartbeat reached his ears. The beats were too quick for them to be considered a resting heart rate. Daniel stopped next to the chair and placed a sturdy, cold hand on the side of that angular face, his thumb running gently over the wet eye lashes in a silent question. He moved his thumb away when William breathed in and began to speak.  
  
"I feel old," he murmured, his voice tired and soft.  
  
"You _are_ old," Daniel replied. "We both are." Even though they still looked to be in their mid-twenties, the two had centuries under their belts by now.  
  
William shook his head and opened his eyes, lifting himself from the rosewood rocking chair and walking to the book shelf in the corner. Books were rarities in this era, but Daniel and William made a point of keeping up their own modest library. Among them was The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien. The scraping sound of old pages turning whispered through the room as William thumbed through the book's pages, taking a moment to find and read out loud the desired excerpt from Bilbo Baggins's words:  
  
"Why, I feel all thin, sort of stretched, if you know what I mean: like butter that has been scraped over too much bread." The book closed with a _whump_ in William's hands and he turned his insistent green gaze back to his husband by the rocking chair. "I _feel_ old."  
  
Daniel's hand came to rest on the back of the gently swaying chair next to him. Under his hold, it grew still as he waited patiently for William to speak again. William saw that his spouse was ready to hear more and so his thin lips parted once more as he began to explain further.  
  
"This feeling has been haunting me for a while now."  
  
"Four or five years," Daniel murmured with a nod.  
  
William paused, an expression of surprise coming over his face. Daniel had noticed? But then again, why _shouldn't_ he notice? "Yes," he confirmed softly. "I have waited and hoped that the feeling would leave me, but it only gets stronger. It worries me."  
  
"Why?" Daniel pressed for more, hoping to help William get everything off his chest while he had the chance.  
  
"I..." William's face contorted into a grimace and he turned his face away to hide the worst of the expression. "I feel as though my clock is finally winding down. My mind and soul ready themselves to depart," he whispered, "and I worry because my death would leave you alone." His long-fingered hand passed over his face, covering the tear that sprung from his eye to glide down his cheek.  
  
Daniel's eyes widened and his stomach bottomed out. He hadn't been expecting that at all. As William began to turn away, his shoulders hunched with guilt, Daniel appeared at his side and stopped him with a sudden embrace. "I love you," he murmured into William's hair as the man clung to him, desperate to find forgiveness for that which had burdened his heart for so long. Daniel thought of vampires; he thought of offering to Change William to rule out the possibility of death. But he couldn't bring himself to say it out loud. He could not bear to ruin the purity of William's humanity and soul.   
  
"I love you so much, William."  
  
...  
  
From where he sat on the bed, William could see the sun beginning to set over Long's Peak outside the window. He held Daniel's hand as they watched the slow progression of colors. How long had they been sitting here? An hour? Did Vicente mind? Knowing him, the vampire probably did not mind the brief solitude. He had already told Daniel he didn't mind waiting for the ebony-haired vampire to see that William was sound asleep and comfortable in bed. This wasn't much different- only more prolonged.  
  
"William."  
  
"Mm?"  
  
"I've been thinking about what you said." William turned his gaze away from the window and looked up at his partner with apprehension. Daniel gave a reassuring smile. "How many years have we known each other?"  
  
William slowly shook his head. "I've lost count," he replied somberly.  
  
"Exactly. And what was I like when I first met you?"  
  
William gave a frown, reaching back into his memories to pull up a younger Daniel from the past. "Different. Much different. You were sad and vain and full of pain and guilt."  
  
Daniel gave a nod. "Yes I was. You changed that. You made me a better man and I thank you for that." He tilted his head and pressed his lips to William's forehead as he wrapped an arm around the man's shoulders. "If you were to die, you would not leave me alone. I would still have you in every fiber of my being. I would be very, very sad, but I know there are some things you just cannot control in life. Just promise me one thing."  
  
William's moist eyes peered up at Daniel's face with earnest before he leaned in for a kiss. Through the contact he channeled all of his gratitude and love before he broke away and responded. "Anything."  
  
"If you do ever die... put in a good word me?" Daniel gave a smile. He knew his soul was condemned because of his vampirism, but every little bit might help.  
  
"Of course. I love you. With all my heart, I love you."  
  
"I love you too."  
  
That night as the two laid in bed, Daniel paid special attention to every detail about the sleeping William. He focused on the way William's warm body felt pressed close against his chest. He memorized the gentle curve of William's hips and the softness of his skin. As the hours ticked on, Daniel could feel William's breaths growing slower and slower. He clenched his jaw, holding his husband's body tighter as though it would slow the process happening within William. Finally, William's abdomen grew still. Daniel squeezed his eyes shut, pressing his face into the back of his love's neck and inhaling the scent of honey with shaking breaths. Daniel's cold body began to chill William, drawing the last of the heat from the man until he was as cold as the vampire.  
  
Daniel could not help but cry, nor could he bring himself to let go of the man with whom he had shared centuries. The back of William's shirt became wet with tears, turning cold between the two chilled bodies on the bed. When Vicente came in and laid his hand on Daniel's shoulder, the grieving widower did not acknowledge him. Vicente waited patiently, perched on the edge of the bed for however many hours it took for Daniel to grow still and finally sit up. He was quiet now, his eyes red and raw and his breaths coming out in halting shudders.  
  
His voice emerged from his constricted throat, raspy and tired. "...What now?"  
  
The familiarity of Daniel's words stabbed Vicente like a stake through the heart. What now? How many times had he spoken those very same words! The lithe vampire lifted himself from the bed and held out his hand, helping his shaky friend to his feet. "That, my friend, is the million dollar question," he responded, pulling a phrase from Daniel's native era to answer him. "But whatever happens now... I'll be there."


End file.
